I stood frozen before the sea of flames that swallowed everything within its reach.
"Is this a dream? I'm sure this place used to be a green forest, not a hell on earth."
"Indeed, it was Master who turned it into a hell on earth," Shizuku said while rotating the dragon meat, making sure it cooked evenly.
"… More importantly, why are you cooking dragon meat? Do you even know how valuable dragon meat is?"
Shizuku smiled softly and said,
"Valuable or not, we'll know after we eat it. It's been a very long time since the last time I had meat. Master should taste it—it's delicious."
Shizuku clearly didn't care about what I said.
"Hah… Anyway, isn't this considered cannibalism? You're a dragon too."
Shizuku immediately turned her head, pouting at me.
I guess I shouldn't have said that, but Shizuku was honestly adorable when she pouted.
Shizuku was fundamentally the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, so it wasn't strange that she looked cute with even the slightest change in expression.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Very wrong! Don't lump me together with ordinary dragons!"
Shizuku's voice rose just as sharply as the anger on her face.
"Aha haaa, forgive me. I promise I won't make the same mistake again."
Shizuku huffed and looked away, but still handed me a perfectly cooked piece of dragon meat.
"Thanks."
I casually took the piece of dragon meat, but when I was about to taste it, hesitation struck and I needed a moment to brace myself.
This was dragon meat—if auctioned, it would sell for a pile of gold coins. Speaking of gold coins, they were the highest-value currency in the world.
With a single gold coin, a person could live luxuriously in any royal capital for a full year.
Crunch!
With the first bite, the rich flavor of dragon meat immediately spread in my mouth.
Honestly, it was the best meat I had ever tasted. Even the finest royal chef couldn't match dragon meat cooked in the simplest way possible.
It was true—the quality of the ingredient always determined the final result.
After the first bite, I finished an entire kilogram of dragon meat in less than a minute.
You might think I'm greedy, but if you were in my position, you'd probably do the same—or even faster.
"Master wants more?"
Shizuku smiled gently as she handed me another piece of dragon meat.
"Ugh, thanks."
I took it and finished the second piece immediately.
After eating two servings, I still wasn't satisfied and asked Shizuku for more.
Strangely, Shizuku obediently gave me all the dragon meat she had cooked.
"Shizuku, why aren't you eating?"
"As a servant, I may only eat after Master."
"Hah?! Who made such a ridiculous rule?"
"Am I wrong? I'm sure this applies in human kingdoms."
"Shizuku, you…"
"I apologize for reading Master's memories without permission."
"… So that's how it is. It's true such things happen in human kingdoms, but we're outside human territory now, so there's no need to follow that."
"Master…"
"Even if we were in human territory, you don't need to follow such things."
"Why?"
"… Because you read my memories, so you know I've lost my place in the human world. Even my own family no longer accepts me, so you're the only relative I have."
"Relative…"
"If you place yourself too far away as just a servant, I'll feel lonely."
"… Very well, I understand."
With a wide smile on her face, Shizuku began eating dragon meat with me.
Maybe because my strength increased after taming Shizuku, my appetite had grown as well.
After we were full, we decided to plan for the future.
No matter how strong I was now, I still needed a proper plan—especially if I wanted to live in the Forest of a Thousand Monsters.
"Shizuku, what do you want to do?"
"My place is always by Master's side."
"You're already free from the shackles that bound you. If you stay with me, it's like giving yourself a new shackle."
Shizuku smiled sweetly and sat beside me.
"I've had enough adventures in the past until I ended up in the hands of that god. Now, I want to live a new life with Master. I'm sure there will be many interesting things if I'm with Master."
"I'm not sure… I'm confused about my own future."
"Master is a former noble. Why not become a noble again by founding a kingdom in the Forest of a Thousand Monsters?"
"Eh? A kingdom?"
Shizuku nodded with a gentle smile.
"Yes, a kingdom!"
"… I don't know, I'm not sure I can do that."
"You can! With my support, Master can become the strongest king in the history of the world!"
"The strongest king, huh… With my current power, I guess I'm already the strongest human in the world."
"Correct. Master is already the strongest human, but not yet the strongest king."
"… And what does that mean?"
Shizuku smiled as if she had no intention of answering.
Looking at her beautiful face, I felt she was even more dazzling than before.
"Master?"
I was entranced by her red lips moving as she spoke.
"Shizuku, my body feels… strange."
"Strange?"
Shizuku tilted her head, then realized something.
"As far as I know, dragon meat works like a powerful aphrodisiac for men. Maybe that's why Master feels strange?"
"What did you say?!"
"Hiih!"
Shizuku flinched in fear as I shouted.
But I didn't have time to get angry—the heat inside my body grew uncontrollable.
Seeing her beautiful, confused face only fueled the strong urge to pounce on her.
At first, I could still hold it in because Shizuku stayed still.
But the moment she hugged me, my hands moved on their own, caressing her perfect, sexy body.
"Master doesn't need to hold back. Let everything out on Shizuku."
My mind shattered the moment I heard her seductive whisper.
Overwhelmed by desire, I pushed Shizuku down and kissed her lips greedily while groping her large, pale breasts.
"Master is too eager—kya!"
As if completely overtaken by lust, I ignored her words and went further, touching the lower part of her body, which was already wet with love fluids.
"Mm."
Shizuku's face turned red, her body trembling—but clearly enjoying it.
Even though my body was consumed by lust, my consciousness remained, and I felt everything clearly—from the kissing to the touching.
Since resisting such overpowering desire was pointless, I decided to go with the flow and stopped holding back.
Shizuku must have noticed my resolve, because she said something that kept me from feeling guilty.
I had learned about the act between men and women from a maid a year ago, so I had a basic idea of what to do.
When we finally connected, for the first time, I felt the pleasure often described as heaven on earth.
As I learned from the maid, a woman bleeds the first time she does it, and this also happened to Shizuku.
I thought Shizuku wouldn't feel pain since she was an ancient dragon king, but she did.
You could say she wasn't that different from a human woman—except her beauty far surpassed any human woman.
... .. .
To be continued…